Broken Playthings
by Mechanicalhyena
Summary: Loki tracks down Jane and decides to keep her. What will he do with her, and how will she respond to his scheming? How about when the unexpected happens? Eventual Lokane. Violence, adult themes and language.
1. Chapter 1 - Capture

**Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction. Ever. Please be gentle. Formatting Suggestions are welcome, as are corrections, as this is unbeta'd. This will be multi-chaptered, eventual Lokane, and contain graphic violence, language, and eventual lemons. This will probably also be a variant of the Alpha/Omegaverse, though I am not entirely decided. Reader discretion advised if you don't like that sort of thing.**

Jane sighed, resting her head on the table for the briefest of moments before looking back up to the cold glow of her computer screen. Equations and theories all began to blur this late at night, turning the screen into hazy dancing blobs. Coffee. She needed more coffee to focus. Or maybe sleep. What the hell time was it anyway? She squinted her eyes at the dancing blob of the screen, trying to focus on the tiny clock in the corner. 3:43 AM. Alright, she thought blearily, I'll just finish compiling the data on this mock trial and then pass out. It's almost finished anyway. Leaning back in her chair, she blew out a puff of air, staring up at the ceiling of the lab.

At least SHEILD had squirreled her away someplace nice for a change. She was sick of underground bunkers and being hurried from one base to another and never seeing the stars. This old farmhouse out in the middle or rural Michigan had big bay windows and a wrap around porch. There was plenty of room and a fairly open floor plan, allowing her to convert the first floor into a lab space for all her equipment. Three bedrooms upstairs, a full basement, and an attached barn which housed her van rounded out the living spaces. All in all, it was more space than she thought she could use, but over the three weeks she'd been a resident of the farm, she'd spread her meager possessions all throughout the house. She still hadn't unpacked the few very personal belongings she'd been allowed the bring, though all her lab equipment was up and out of it's carefully packaged boxes almost as soon as she'd arrived. Subconsciously, she couldn't bring herself to relax enough to unpack the rest, always tense that she'd have to pack up again in a hurry if another call from SHEILD came.

The machines surrounding her sang with their soft electronic hum, mixing almost pleasantly with the gentle whir of her laptop. It lulled her into a rare relaxed state, and her eyelids drooped. She leaned her head back in her computer chair and pulled a knee up to her chest, feeling the stiffness in her joints. Jane rolled her head to the side drowsily, staring out the large open windows with the curtains flung wide to see the full moon and stars. They illuminated the nearby treeline; most of the acres that the house sat on was heavily wooded. Pleasant summer smells and a light wind rolled through the windows, easing the heavy heat of the July night.

Glancing back at the screen, she noted the program was ninety four percent done. She smiled, knowing that a soft mattress and dreamland was in her near future.

And then all the lights went out.

She startled, then dropped her head forward and groaned. The generator had a few instances of brown outs before, it might have something to do with the amount of electrical equipment she used, but it hadn't failed her yet. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, she mused. She would have to go check the generator and the breaker box in the basement. Jane thanked whatever gods were watching over her that her laptop immediately went to battery power and continued running the mock trial, else she probably would have screamed in frustration. She slowly fumbled her way to the kitchen, the light of the full moon pouring in through the windows allowed her to not trip and die on the papers and machinery strewn somewhat haphazardly all over the first floor. The flashlights and the spare batteries shared the same drawer in the kitchen next to the sink, and she dug out the hefty flashlight with a rattle of metal on metal.

Flipping it on, She made her way carefully to the basement door, noting how eerily quiet it was without the constant hum of machinery. It made the soft step of her feet and the creak of the floorboards echo that much louder into the silence. Continuing forward, she thumped lightly down the basement stairs and made her way through the piles of assorted junk towards the far corner where the breakers and generator were. Some of the stacks were taller than her, and racks of old clothes occasionally had to be shoved out of the way. This stuff was here well before she was moved in, judging by the dust. Jane supposed it must have belonged to the former owners.

Finally making her way to the far corner where the breakers and generator resided, she popped the box open and peered inside. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. A brilliant flash of green appeared out of the corner of her eye, and she whirled, shining the flashlight wildly towards where she thought she saw the movement. There was nothing there. She flashed the light around the cavernous room, still nothing. She checked the corner again. Maybe it was just that ugly green jacket on the end of the clothes rack? She shook her head, trying to clear it.

"You're jumping at shadows Jane, relax, you're fine." Saying the words out loud did little to convince herself of that fact, but she pushed her uneasiness aside and instead focused on the generator. Dropping to her knees, she poked and prodded at the machine, digging around in the parts and popping off the protective coverings. Still nothing. She could find no reason her generator has just… stopped.

With a deep sigh, Jane hauled herself to her feet and padded back across the cement flooring, pleasantly cold against her bare feet in the sweltering Michigan summer. SHEILD had forgotten to spring for air conditioning. She made a mental note to request a unit for the lab space to keep the computers cool if it got any hotter and thumped her way semi-gracefully up the basement stairs. Semi-gracefully in that she didn't trip and fall back down them in the dark, anyway.

Jane mounted the last stair when she heard a sound that made her heart drop – her phone was ringing. It was just any ring though, it was Secret Agent Man, the song Tony Stark had jokingly put on her phone as the ringtone for SHEILD. She had thought it was pretty funny at the time, but she had begun to dread the song, as it usually signified she had to move again. She rushed to the kitchen counter, tripping on a piece of equipment, dropping the flashlight, and stubbing her toe before she managed to dig it out of her purse, cuddled next to the pink taser Darcy had gotten her for Christmas.

"Yes, hello?" She sputtered into the phone, breathing heavily from her rush to get to the kitchen and hopping on one foot while she rubbed at her stubbed toe.

"Jane! Get out now. Your agents didn't make the last check in. Get –" And the cell went dead.

A deep chuckle echoed softly through the kitchen and Jane tensed in rising panic. She whirled around with her back to the counter, grabbing her purse and looking wildly around the room, seeing nothing in the moonlight falling through the open windows.

The soft laughter came again, echoing so she couldn't place where the sound was coming from. She shivered, eyes darting about as she tried to figure out what to do through the fog of creeping fear.

"Jane…" came a velvet whisper along with the ghostly sensation of a touch on her cheek.

That broke through the haze and the contingency plans hammered into her head by SHEILD came flooding back to the forefront of her memory. There was an emergency pack in her van, and a secondary emergency pack in the woods. She bolted for the lab and ducked behind a large desk housing paperwork and a now-dark computer. Dark laughter echoed from the kitchen, followed by heavy footfalls that creaked the floorboards as it walked through the lab.

"My, my, dear Jane Foster. How do they say it here on Midgard? You can run, but you can't hide."

The voice and heavy footfalls moved through the spacious room, heading towards the foyer. He was almost far enough… almost far enough… there! She crept back towards the basement door and slipped as quietly as possible down the stairs, trying not to fumble in the dark. Trying to remember the layout of the basement, she felt her way through the junk towards what she hoped was the door leading to the barn. Instead, she stubbed her toe on the generator, knocked part of a stack down as she hopped backwards, then froze and held her breath and she heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs.

Oh god. Oh god. Literally, a god. Was coming down the stairs. She desperately reached around in the dark and hit something made of wood. A wardrobe. She remembered it now as she opened the door and slid inside, thanking her lucky stars that it didn't squeak. Old, standing taller than her and lined with cedar, the wardrobe was empty and felt more like a cage than a safe haven. She shuddered and listened to the approaching footsteps and the mocking voice that came with it. Her skin felt alive with unpleasant tingles of electricity.

"Oh Jane, do come out. Though I admit, I haven't played hide and go seek for a millennia." His footsteps drew closer, stepping carefully through the junk. "It is rather enjoyable, isn't it? The tension, the joy of the hunt." He chuckled. "Not for the hunted, I suppose. If I listen closely, do you think I'd hear your heart beating out of it's chest?" She held her breath, trying desperately to still her rabbiting heart. His footsteps paused, shuffled a little, and she began to panic, but then they began to recede, heading towards the other side of the large room.

She refused to let out her held breath until his footsteps sounded their way up the stairs and began to creak across the floorboards into the kitchen. Ok. Now all she needed to do was sneak across the room without knocking any more junk over and get to her van. Oh boy.

That's when Loki, in all his armor and glory, the horns of his helmet brushing the ceiling, threw the doors of the wardrobe open wide and grinned ferally down at her. "Found you Jane Foster. I win."

And that's when she tased him.

He didn't drop, oh no. But he did real back, hiss in pain, and double over. She got the darts right in his uncovered neck. Jane took the opportunity presented to her, dropped the taser, and ran, adrenaline rushing through her veins and fear fueling her flight, miraculously dodging the piles of junk and running headlong towards the door to the barn. She had no idea how long he'll be immobile, but she suspects it won't be long. Jane thought briefly to herself as Loki manifested right in front of the exit not 3 seconds after, that it wasn't fair that he could shrug off 50,000 volts, and that it also wasn't fair that she had no traction to stop in time and was going to slam directly into his armored chest.

To her surprise, she went right through him and continued running up the stairs to the barn, not allowing herself to pause and think about what just happened. If she thinks about it too much, she'll slow down, and right now she's running on panic, adrenaline, and the single minded need to get away. She doesn't let herself think about the ways loki may plan to kill her, but allows the fear it provokes to fuel her burning legs and tensed muscles.

Up the stairs, bursting through the door, and into the shadows of the moonlit barn she runs, one hand digging in the purse she keeps in a death grip for the car keys. Grabbing them, she unlocked her van in record time and manages not to pull a classic horror movie move and drop them. Starting it up and throwing it into gear, she hit the gas and braced herself for the impending crash – she didn't bother opening the main barn door. With a resounding splintering and crash, the van flattened the old wood and streamed down the long packed dirt driveway.

Jane again tried to slow her breathing and calm her hammering heart so she can focus on the road, but she could see large things moving in the moonlight across the lawn and hear piercing shrieks over the roar of the van and the buzz in her ears. Large things with armor that glows. And laser rifles. Shit. Chitauri. Shit. Shitshitshitshit. Drive faster Jane. She really needs to start taking her own advice. The headlights shone brightly on two Chitauri standing braced in the middle of the road just around a curve and Jane panicked, jerking the wheel left as the Chituari opened fire. They blasted the passenger side off the van, and the force of the blast combined with the veer to the left started the van into a tumbling roll.

The shrieking of tearing metal and shattering glass drowned out the roars of the aliens in Janes ears as she was thrown head over heels, rattling around the front of the van and smashing into the windshield and steering wheel as the van rolled to a stop on it's roof. Laying on her back on the inside roof of her van, Jane can only dazedly think that she forgot to put on her seatbelt while she rolled onto her belly and crawled from the wreckage. The Chitauri are nowhere in sight, they must be approaching from the other side of the van.

The woodline. The trees are so close. There's another emergency pack in there. If she can just get to it…

Jane feels oddly light, can't hear, and feels no pain. She stands and starts to run towards the trees, but her ankle isn't working right. She keeps stumbling and her vision keeps blurring on her. Idly, she wondered if she's going into shock as her senses slowly come back to her. Hearing comes first, as the shrieking war cries and what must be the laughter of the Chituari comes echoing behind her. Smell comes next; the coppery tang of blood, leaking gasoline, and what smells oddly like burnt pork chops register slowly in her cloudy brain. She feels wet as she stilts her way towards the trees, but still feels no pain. She recognizes it's a bad sign, but the gravity of it hasn't hit her yet, adrenaline and fear sending chills through her limbs and keeping her moving as fast as she can.

Loki manifested in front of her again, but she kept up her staggering run, expecting to run straight through another illusion.

Jane slammed directly into his very real chest, the force of the impact bouncing her backwards to fall on her ass and knock the breath out of her. She blinked, flat on her back, breathing heavily and wondering dazedly what color green that is that's creeping in on the edge of her vision. She blinked again, unable to focus her chocolate brown eyes on anything around her until a blurry green, black, and gold shape overwhelmed her vision. The gold looks more silver in the moonlight.

Loki's face slowly came into focus, staring down at her with a predatory smile rife with wicked glee. He bent and reached down, fingers ghosting over the flesh of her throat. Jane shuddered and tried to swat his hand away, but she discovered that her right arm wouldn't obey her commands, and her left arm pushed feebly at the unwelcomed touch, unable to so much as move it a millimeter. His arm may as well have been rigid steel. Loki ran his thumb down the center of her throat, slowly wrapping the chilly fingers of his right hand around the back of her neck. He caressed the skin gently, almost like a lover's touch, and she shivered. Loki's smile grew and he tightened his grip, pulling her quickly up by her neck to dangle helplessly above the ground. Jane choked, his hold too tight, blocking off her airway. She scrabbled uselessly with her left hand, trying to rip at his fingers, trying to loosen the hold enough so that she could breath, but his fingers were as iron bands. Her right arm was still not obeying her, dangling uselessly at her side.

Loki looked into her eyes and tilted his head ever so slightly. The green stare caught her and held her, she felt like she was drowning, little black spots slowly closing in. "Well my dear Jane Foster, what a merry little chase you've led me on. It would've been so much simpler for you, and probably hurt far less, if you'd simply played by the rules of the game." He admonished. Loki gave her a little shake, then dropped her. If she'd had any air left, Jane thought she surely would have screamed when she hit the ground, as she landed on her bad ankle and blinding spikes of pain cut through her senses. Having no air, though, she merely choked and coughed, trying to pull oxygen into her starving lungs. She curled up on her left side, hair splayed out in brown waves on the dirt. Her left hand felt tenderly at her throat. He must've bruised her windpipe; she was still gasping and coughing like a fish out of water and her neck burned and throbbed.

Loki frowned and rolled her over onto her back with his boot. "Oh dear. I think the Chitauri have gone and damaged my new toy." His voice was velvet and venom in one. "Don't worry little Jane, I'll have you fixed up. After all, I can't have near as much fun with broken playthings."

Jane felt herself being lifted into the air as she tried to grasp what was going on, but the heavy pull of unconsciousness was calling to her. Her adrenalin was giving way to exhaustion, the stress taking it's toll. Jane stared almost unseeingly up at the clear night sky full of stars. She idly wondered if her mock run had made it to one hundred percent before surrendering to blackness.


	2. Chapter 2 - Deep Thoughts

**Author's Note: Hey all! Thanks for the encouragement. This was much better received than I thought it would be. Just an FYI, I only planned on updating once a month, though I will post chapters as I finish them. Again, this is my first fanfic, so any helpful hints you have about characterization, where you think this might or should go, or things you'd like to see, feel free to send them my way via review or private message. Also, if you see spelling or grammatical mistakes, please tell me so I can fix them.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and I make no money off this.**

Jane's thoughts were cloudy as she slowly drifted back into her body. She pondered the events that had gotten her to this point in her life. It was almost as if a cosmic joke had been played with her fate, lining up events in her life like a row of dominoes made of comedic tragedies. The early death of her father during the formative years of her childhood led to isolation and social awkwardness, which in turn led her to finding solace in the stars – one of the few activities they found joy together in that she could still do on her own. Her comfort in the stars and being smart as a whip led her to pursue astrophysics, picking up skills in electronics, computer programming, and engineering as her theories required her to build equipment that hadn't been imagined, let alone invented yet. Her theories and brilliance in a male-dominated field led her to, again, isolation and social awkwardness. At least Erik and Darcy had been there to encourage her and provide companionship. God, she missed them.

Thor's touchdown in New Mexico seemed to be to her more evidence of life's attempt at turning her future into a comedic tragedy. Why couldn't it at least have been a sitcom? Those usually turn out okay, with an important and humorous life lesson involved. And they probably wouldn't have left such pain and confusion in her heart. He had been here three days. Only three days to prove her theories correct, turn her life upside down, and steal her heart. Jane still couldn't decide whether she loved him or hated him for that. And then her saved her life, promised to return to her sealed with a kiss, and vanished in a brilliant blaze of light and weather disturbance he called the Bifrost.

She hadn't seen Thor since. Not in person. And it still hurt, holding out hope for a broken promise.

SHEILD had continued to support and fund her research, of course. They knew she was right, the foremost in her field, and was so stubborn she would have continued her research and experiments without them. At least this way, they could control where her theories went and what they were used for. At that point in time, she hadn't cared much, she was so focused on finding Thor again.

After a year of promising theories but fruitless practical experiments, she had picked up a consulting contract in Tromso to try to get a fresh perspective.

Less than a week had passed before Thor showed up on the television in the breakroom during the Battle of New York, broadcast live worldwide.

It was then, watching Thor rain lightning down on the giant tear in the skies, that she realized SHEILD knew. SHEILD had known Thor was on earth, and hadn't told her. They had, in fact, moved her away from him. It had hurt, at the time, and that made her angry.

They had kept her more in the loop after that, whether out of guilt, worry, or the fact that she had raised bloody blue murder and they were afraid of getting yelled at again with the threat of her taking her research and theories elsewhere. A mostly empty threat, but it mollified her to be taken seriously for once. After she heard the rumor that Thor had requested her moved to keep her safe, she was more forgiving, especially after she saw the aftermath of Manhattan.

The Battle of New York was agreed by all to be a giant clusterfuck. Property damage in the billions, thousands of lives lost, and Loki had escaped. The news reports kept her heart in her throat, she remembered.

Blame was tossed around. By the news groups, by the government, even by SHEILD's commanding council. Faulty Leadership, bad decisions, disobeying orders; all different reasons tossed around by different people trying to place blame for this horror story. Heck, even Director Fury was facing punishment as he disobeyed the direct order of the SHEILD council to launch a nuke into Manhattan. He had shot down the plane launched by the council himself after he was overruled.

Jane may never forgive him for ordering the confiscation of her research, but he had earned her respect for that action. She could only imagine the devastation of a nuclear weapon in New York dropped on a power source like the Tesseract. Look at what happened when Tony shot it! She thought they might as well have lost the Eastern Seaboard in the resulting conflagration. SHEILD's Council obvious didn't have any scientists with two brain cells to rub together.

No. In Jane's opinion, there was only one man to blame. If you could bear to call him a man, anyway.

Loki.

The mere thought of his name made her shudder, though she couldn't entirely remember why it affected her so viscerally right now.

Bruce Banner's alter ego had badly injured Loki, bashing him into unconsciousness. Heh. Hulk smash. Or so they thought, anyway. He was a master of illusions, after all. An explosion had rocked the top of Stark Tower shortly after the Black Widow had managed to close the portal. Noone was able to entirely explain why, but her own hypothesis involved Loki having Selvig put in a failsafe unless Loki himself deactivated the portal. It was what she would have done, had she thought about it and been honest with herself. Noone could ask Erik, he had been in a coma since they dug him and Natasha out of the rubble, and the portal machine had been damn near disintegrated in the blast. Any information on the portal technology, the Tesseract, or Loki's plans was buried in Dr. Selvig's comatose brain. Jane distantly felt her chest tighten in fresh heartache over memories of Erik.

The scepter spear thing had disappeared, hopefully destroyed in the blast if they were lucky, though Jane certainly didn't feel luck was really on their side. While Loki's imprints in Starks floor were obvious once uncovered, the trickster himself, body or otherwise, was nowhere to be found. It had taken them hours to dig it out, but SHEILD had found the Tesseract as well, unharmed.

The stranded Chitauri, now leaderless, had banded into groups and dug themselves into the wreckage of New York, causing more destruction and taking the Avengers days to mop up. They refused surrender, fighting to the death, and the skirmishes were ugly and bloody. New York had finally been declared a disaster zone, and slowly, people were allowed back in to clean up the mess and start rebuilding.

Jane's heart had slowly sunk over the intervening time. Thor had never contacted her.

Less than three weeks later, Loki and a squadron of Chitauri attacked a facility where Selvig was rumored to be held in recovery. He wasn't there, but a prepared contingent of SHEILD operatives were, along with Captain America. There were heavy casualties on both sides, but once it was discovered by Loki that Erik was absent, he again vanished. That brought up three important points, however

One, Loki was alive and still bent on taking over the world.

Two, he could still transport Chitauri to Earth somehow.

And three, perhaps the most troubling, SHEILD had a mole.

The so-called war devolved into a series of skirmishes and clean up efforts, the Avengers trying to figure out where Loki and his forces would turn up next, then try to get there in time to stop him. It was difficult and frustrating work, she imagined, trying to predict the moves of a madman. Though, if Jane was honest with herself, Loki appeared to be more of the Crazy Like a Fox type than the Raving Lunatic type. Though she wouldn't put it past him.

There was good news, however.

The public reaction to the Avengers was surprisingly positive. A group of super heroes trying to save the world from hostile alien takeover seemed to go a long way towards forgiving them of responsibility for the death and destruction their inability to catch Loki was causing. Many, though not all, of the world's countries were highly cooperative with SHEILD's operatives trying to thwart Loki's plans.

Additionally, the Tesseract was in SHEILD hands, and away from Loki's. As a result, they suspected he had to rely on his own magic and his knowledge of gateways between the worlds to bring in the Chitauri a few at a time. And no portal Loki had so far was big enough to admit any of the bizarre flying war whales of the Chitauris. Hooray for small favors.

Unfortunately, what was good news on one hand was bad news for Jane. Loki no longer had the Tesseract. Loki no longer had Erik. Loki needed more and bigger portals to bring in his army. And who was the world's foremost scientist on wormhole theory, it's detection and construction? Bingo. Jane. In her desperate search for Thor, she had made herself a whopping big target for Loki's wrath in more ways than one. Way to go Jane.

SHEILD had realized this almost instantly, and moved her and all her equipment from Tromso. They had moved her twice more before they told her the Tromso lab had been destroyed in a Chitauri attack, torn apart looking for her. They had kept her moving from base to bunker, never in one place for long, and she was kept separate from Erik, Darcy, and Thor. Jane was told it was for her own protection, but she suspected it was so that if two of them were captured at once, they couldn't immediately be used as collateral against the other. She didn't want to speculate on why Thor never contacted her, and instead threw herself into her new work, trying to numb the emptiness and creeping anxiety of the world's scariest supervillain being after her.

She had been trying to develop a large scale detection system for portals, so they'd know within moments when and where a portal opened around the world. It was a huge and frustrating headache though. His magical methods were small and subtle, the environmental changes around such portals equally so. The Bifrost's energy and the anomalous changes in weather made it blatantly obvious, not to mention the stunning visuals of the Rainbow Bridge. Her equipment could already pick up readings like that. Portals opened by the Tesseract emitted levels of Gamma radiation that were already detectable and identifiable by the algorithms set up by Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. Not to mention the Tesseract was in SHEILD possession right now. She hoped.

She just didn't have enough scientific data on his magical abilities to form an appropriate hypothesis. Jane could almost laugh at the preposterousness of that statement. Science and Magic. The Bifrost and the Tesseract had measurable effects, they were like folds and tears in the fabric of space-time. Magic was a loophole. A damned tiny loophole in physics.

Science and Magic. Thor came from a world where they were one and the same.

There was something stoking her cheek.

Science and Magic.

A hand was cupping her cheek now, and she felt a thumb brushing gently along her cheekbone.

"Thor…" It was barely a whisper. Thor came from a world where Magic and Science were one and the same.

The hand froze, the touch disappeared from her face as fast as if it had been burned. But then she felt it's return a few moments later, the gentle drag of the back of someone's fingertips along her face. Her body felt warm and heavy and safe, and she was lying on her back. She nuzzled into the soft touch, hope making it's painful way back into her heart.

Loki was from Asgard, too. Loki came from a world where Magic and Science were one and the same.

Shit.

Good feeling gone.

"Loki!" She gasped, choking on the name. Her brown eyes flew open to meet his green stare, curled into a wicked smirk, his fingertips still roaming her face.

All the fear and hurt and frustration and pain of the last few months rushed in on her and coiled, burning, into disgust and rage. Jane jerked back away from Loki's hand, shouting at him through her aching throat. It came out hoarse, but strong. "Don't you touch me!" She simultaneously tried to sit up and struggle away from him, but the warmth of her body fled, and blinding pain rushed in. Her back spasmed and arched in an almost seizure before she fell back flat on the bed, shuddering in the aftershocks of feeling coming back to her body and panting.

She closed her eyes tight and grit her teeth, turning her head away from Loki, refusing to look at him. Trying to hide her pain.

His voice was quiet and cold. "Look at me, Jane Foster."

She didn't.

Loki grabbed her chin and forced her head around, his voice taking a deadly tone. "I said. Look. At. Me."

Jane could barely resist the command in his voice, but poured every ounce of anger she had left into her heated glare as she opened her eyes and looked at her captor.

Still holding her chin with bruising force, he leaned forward, face contorted with rage. He snarled down in her face. "You're in my hands now, little Jane. I'll do anything I want to you." Loki's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on her chin and held her glare for a few moments. He unexpectedly smiled, released her face, and leaned back, his countenance now bright and falsely cheery. His bipolar moods were almost dizzying. "You're quite lucky I want you in good condition. So we're going to heal you. Fix you up. I've no healing stones from Asgard, I'm afraid, so this will take longer. Fixing things is not my specialty."

Jane huffed air out her nose. "No, destroying everything you touch is!" She hissed vehemently.

He went still and his face went cold, and she wondered if this was the look wolves gave deer before they died. Dammit Jane. Couldn't keep your damn mouth shut could you? Pulling her thoughts together, she stared defiantly at him and prepared for the pain of his retaliation.


	3. Chapter 3 - Sheet

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! And special thanks to the reviews. You guys have been very kind. I will get around to Loki soon, probably next chapter, but writing in Jane's POV is such fun for me. We'll see. Also, while I originally planned to update once a month, it seems I'm writing them faster than that, so I will amend that to updating at least once a month.

Loki's frozen countenance stared back at Jane's defiance for a long minute before it melted into an expression of genuine amusement.

"Oh Jane, I think I like you." The mirth was evident in his rich voice.

She just looked at him and blinked, confused. One minute he looked at her like he was going to murder her slowly and the next he told her he liked her? It was almost beyond comprehension. Maybe she was wrong about her initial impression of Crazy Like a Fox versus Raving Lunatic. Jane frowned and did not speak.

Loki smiled and leaned forward, splaying his long fingers out and smoothing the sheets on the edge of the bed. His action drew her attention to her predicament, lying flat on her back, unable to move much without pain, at the mercy of a mass murderer, with no knowledge of where she was or what his plans were for her. She had no doubt he had done it on purpose. Jerk.

Jane took a shallow breath as a deep one still hurt, and took a moment to glance around the room and gather her surroundings. She was lying near the edge of a king sized four poster bed of dark mahogany, covered in a soft white sheet. The room was large, end tables matching the wood of the bed with lamps sat on each side of the four poster, along with what appeared to be large doors to a walk in closet, and an open door to an attached bathroom. There was a third door, but it was closed. The room was pleasantly decorated in blues, golds, and white. There were no windows. All in all, it was much fancier than anyplace she had stayed before.

Loki was speaking again, and she hated how his cadence and accent drew her attention almost immediately back to him. He was magnetic in an imperious way, almost the complete opposite of his brother's leonine charisma. His hands had stilled on the sheets.

"Now, as I said before I was so rudely interrupted," He shot her a look and a raised eyebrow, " fixing things is not my specialty. You mortals are so breakable anyway, it hardly seemed worth the effort. Aesir can heal all but the most grievous of wounds, and for those occurrences we have dedicated healers…" He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he focused his attention back to Jane.

He smirked, his mouth curving up at the ends, and tilted his head slightly. Hair so black it was almost blue spilled down his shoulders. "You've done such extensive injuries to yourself, it's almost comical."

Jane stared at him incredulously. "Injuries _I_ did? Excuse me?"

He shrugged delicately and leaned back in his chair. "Of course. Your reputation as a terrible driver precedes you, Jane Foster." He was still smirking.

"I only got hurt because you were chasing me!" Fueled by increasing fury and indignation, she moved slightly to sit up, but the rush of pain stole the breath from her lungs and she was forced to relax back onto the bed.

"No, you got hurt because you ran away." His voice was almost sing song, mocking.

Jane focused her anger and glared at Loki. "You expected me to just sit there and let you kidnap me?! You picked me up by the neck! Choked me!"

He leaned forward again, placing his hands on his knees, and spoke in a low, almost serious tone. "Yes. I gave you a bruise. And I plan to fix that. You, on the other hand, gave yourself assorted cuts and bruises, a cracked rib and a steering wheel imprint on your chest, a broken ankle, pulled your arm out of socket, and got yourself shot by Chitauri, burning your entire right arm and shoulder." He recited the litany of her injuries with mockery increasing in his tone the longer the list got.

"You.. I.. Gah!" She sputtered at his audacity, to accuse her of bringing this upon herself, and raised her eyes to the ceiling to escape his stupid smirk. Of this being her own fault because she refused to just give up and let him take her. He was infuriating and arrogant and -.

He interrupted her thoughts. "I cannot magically heal you. "

She looked at him sharply, mind looking to the future, imagining her own helplessness as her body took months to recover. Stuck here. It made her chest tighten in quiet horror. It must have shown on her face, because he chuckled before he continued.

"I can, however, accelerate your own healing. This takes a lot of energy, and will drain you as your body works in overtime to repair the damage. It will feel like an incredible heat, and I'll block the pain. It will require skin to skin contact and for you to hold still." He raised an eyebrow, staring down at her as if he believed her incapable of such a feat.

Jane lay unmoving, mind flying furiously over his words. She didn't want him near her, let along touching her. Was this all some big joke on his part? A scam of rather disturbing proportions? She voiced her thoughts rather steadily. " How do I know you're not lying?"

Loki actually grinned, spreading his hands wide in a gesture of mock openness. "You don't. You'll just have to take my word on it. "

" Your word." She said flatly. "The word of the God of Lies."

He perked right up, seeming almost gleeful, clapping his hands together and making her flinch. "Indeed, Jane Foster! Exciting isn't it? Lets start with ribs, so it's easier for you to breathe, and then your throat, as this hoarse rasp is beginning to grate on my nerves, and I do so love listening to your indignant ramblings." His voice was dripping with obvious sarcasm. She glared at him as he reached to pull down the sheets.

It was at that moment that Jane really noticed the dull throbbing ache throughout most of her body. It stayed at that level if she stayed still, and rose to almost unbearable when she moved. She also noticed that she was completely naked underneath the sheet.

"STOP!" She practically shrieked, flailing with her left arm, clutching the sheet tightly to her chest. Her eyes widened in mortification, her mouth dropped open slightly, and she felt the blood drain from her face.

Loki paused, his hand still gripping the edge of the sheet she was clutching so tightly. "Relax Jane, it's nothing I haven't seen before. Or do you think the Chitauri undressed you?" His smirk stretched in a cheshire grin, devious and almost a leer.

That did it. Jane snapped, and screamed at him with as much venom as she could muster. "You son of a bitch! "

In but a moment, Loki was out of his chair, knocking it backwards in his haste. One knee on the bed, he slammed his fists into the mattress on each side of her head, caging her in, his body looming over her. He was much taller and a great deal larger and stronger than she. Jane flinched, shocked, as his face stopped inches from hers. Face contorted in rage, he snarled down at her, his voice low and deadly."Do not ever insult Frigga again, Jane Foster."

Her brain kept yelling at her to shut up, to apologize, to swallow her anger and let it go. Her mouth, on the other hand, lashed out in quiet rage. "My sincerest apologies then. I was trying to insult you. Would it be better if I called you an ass?"

Loki smiled coldly above her, his black hair drifting down almost close enough to brush her face. He pulled back, off the bed, and turned to right his chair. He sat down and back, reclining as he draped one leg over the other. She should have felt better, but his face remained cold and he didn't respond to her baiting. "Now now Jane. You should consider yourself fortunate. I could have let the Chitauri remove your clothes. Their claws would likely have marred your rather delicate skin quite severely, though. Thus I felt it a better decision that I should be the one to do so."

"And why on earth would I need to be naked!?" Full of distrust, horror, and a little panic, Jane's voice has risen in pitch to almost a squeak.

"I needed to assess the injuries you sustained." He said simply.

She just stared at him. The thought of him undressing her while she was passed out was bad enough, but having him look over every inch of her naked body in detail was too much. She shuddered in revulsion and felt sick, closing her eyes and looking away. The unusual sensation of shame poked at her subconscious, and she tried to ignore it

Loki sighed impatiently and stood up, walking into the bathroom. He came back shortly and tossed her a handtowel.

"Cover your chest then if you're feeling so modest." He crossed his arms and stared at her imperiously, raising an eyebrow. He watched her struggle with her left hand to situate the towel under the sheet but did not move or offer to help. Which was just as well, as Jane would have refused, possibly with added insults. Jane did not trust her mouth not to get her into trouble right now. Finally, she laid her arm down at her side, having done her best with the towel. She sighed, her ribs hurting. "Fine."

Loki tilted his head, green eyes dancing. "Fine what?"

She grumbled before looking him in the eye. "Fine. You can pull the sheet down now."

He smiled impishly, reached down, and carefully folded the white sheet down to Jane's belly button. He laid his left hand on the soft skin between her stomach and rib cage, her muscles jumped and twitched at the unwelcome touch. Humiliated, she flushed red.

"Hm. You blush all the way down your rib cage. How interesting." He studied her with an almost detached air, eyebrows raised.

Her eyes widened. "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" He blinked innocently.

Her large brown doe eyes glanced down, and she muttered almost petulantly, "Looking at me."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Jane, do stop being foolish and hold still. I'm beginning to wonder if the stories of your intelligence are over stated."

Jane bit back a retort, as she suddenly felt heat radiating from his cool palm, seeping down into the flesh of her ribcage. It tingled. Magic. She felt the heat circle around the throbbing where she figured her broken rib was, drawing tight as if the magic gripped it. With a sudden crack, it was pulled upward back into place. She gasped and convulsed under his palm, the heat sending a soothing balm through the area. It fell just short of burning. Jane felt her strength ebb as the magic sapped her energy. She felt herself drifting off, the warmth lulling her into passivity. Loki moved his hand down a bit and dug his nails briefly into the soft skin of her stomach. She jerked in surprise . "What the hell was that for?"

He smiled. "I can't have you falling asleep on me. We're not done yet."

He removed his hand and pulled the sheet back up to her shoulders. She was very, very tired. Too tired to glare, even. She just looked at him blurrily.

"Now tilt your head back Jane." His voice was surprisingly gentle.

She did, eyeing him grumpily.

"No, further." He put two fingers under her chin and pulled up and back, exposing her bruised and aching throat. The trickster reached down, again with his left hand, and covered her neck with his palm, thumb resting on the other side of her jugular. She was suddenly extremely uncomfortable, this situation reminding her far too much of the other time he had his hand around her throat. Before she could begin to object, however, she felt that same heat work it's way around her airways, soothing away the throbbing and giving the sensation of almost inflating some of them. He must have had a greater grip and done more damage than she originally thought. He was not a man to cross. Now if only her own temper wouldn't get the better of her. She was always fighting impossible battles. She was used to it in her field of work.

The drain on her energy was quite strong, her eyes fell shut and she felt utterly exhausted. Distantly, she felt his hand slide down to rest at the juncture of her neck and collarbone, his thumb stroking along the column of her throat. Had it been anyone else, it would have been soothing. As it was Loki, it was getting incredibly uncomfortable. He was obviously done with healing her neck, there was no more warmth flowing from his palm. Why couldn't he just go away and let her sleep? She felt a cool touch and pressure at the apex of her exposed throat, and she shivered at the intimacy. Her mind groggy with exhaustion, it took her a moment to figure out what was going on. With a jolt, she realized Loki was kissing her neck.

Her eyes snapped open and she let out a strangled yelp, attempting to shove him away with her left arm. Exhaustion mixed with shock and the slightest hint of fear in her wide doe eyes as she stared at the man who had retreated no further than the length of her arm on his chest.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Her voice, clear again, was angry and a little bit afraid. She was only able to push him away because he let her, she knew that.

He grinned wickedly. "It was so inviting."

"Well quit it! There was no inviting! No invitation there! At all! Ever!" Her pitch and volume increased as she spoke, panic beginning to seep in at her predicament and his very unexpected kiss.

Loki merely smiled and stood up, pushing back his chair. "Sleep Jane Foster. You'll need it."

He left, but it took Jane a long time to fall asleep, going over his actions again and again in her mind, trying to pick out whatever motive or plot or scheme was going around in his head. She couldn't even fathom a guess. Eventually, her exhausted body overruled her overwrought and anxious mind, and she was pulled into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4 - Raspberries

Authors' Note: Aloha! Thanks of the reviews and comments, and sorry for the formatting error initially for the last chapter. I have no idea what happened, it's never done that to me before. Weird. To the guest reviews and those to have asked, yes. There will be lemons. Good old fashioned smut. However, as this is my first fanfic EVER, I'm working my way up to it. I'd like to make sure it's at least good smut. ;-) I tried Loki's perspective here, so if you have any suggestions on better characterization, please drop me a line.

Loki left the exhausted mortal woman to her own devices and stalked out, closing the bedroom door behind him. He didn't bother locking it, she was in no condition to move, let alone attempt any sort of escape. Humans were so fragile. He continued through the living room area past the attached kitchenette of the quarters and out into the hallway. Glancing at the two Chitauri guards outside the entrance, he uttered a simple command, "No one enters or exits but me. No one." They grunted their assent as he brushed past their hulking forms.

The trickster pondered the various paths he could get to his ultimate goal with Jane. He planned to have her continue Selvig's work with the Tesseract, building a stabilizer and mechanical focus for the Tesseract to open portals of the size and magnitude necessary to bring the bulk of his army through. This bringing a trickle of Chitauri through magical paths into Midgard was both taxing and frustrating. All he could really do with the forces he had was keep the Avengers and SHEILD too busy putting out the proverbial fires he started with small elements of his army to try to track him down. He was marvelous at keeping himself, his forces, and his hideouts hidden. Oh what joy it was to be the God of Lies and Mischief. That and being incredibly gifted with cloaking magics. Mixed in with the rampant chaos was the occasional directed strike, collecting important technology or personnel for his plans.

Important personnel like Doctor Jane Foster. She was like a fabulous two for one deal for his plans. Now that he had her, he planned to keep her out of Thor's reach for as long as possible. Forever if he could. Loki wanted to punish his brother in the most painful way possible, shattering his confidence and breaking his heart. Loki would own Jane Foster until the day she died.

He considered why Thor was so drawn to this mortal. What about her intrigued him so? She was pretty yes. She could even be considered beautiful once she was cleaned up a bit, but he'd seen woman who were more so. She was quite spirited, which he truly enjoyed. He was not lying when he'd said he liked her. Not many would be willing to spit fire at a Prince of Asgard. Or a former Prince of Asgard, he thought bitterly. But she was weak as were all mortals. Pathetic. Utterly infuriating. Though it was awfully fun to bait and humiliate her. Keeping her off balance was shaping up to be one of the most entertaining games he had at the present. She was quite a puzzle, and he simply adored puzzles. Jane did smell and taste quite lovely, however. He licked his lips, smirking, and was reminded of lavender and raspberries and the scent of libraries in the summer.

He frowned and shook his head, trying to clear it of such sentimental nonsense. She was a tool, he reminded himself as he stalked down the corridors. A toy, a plaything, and a means to an end. Nothing more.

He lamented the loss of his scepter, it would be the simplest, more expedient way to control her. Even without it, his enslaved mortals still obeyed him. It was a clear sign the staff was still intact and active, but it was not in his possession, nor was it easy to find. The Chitauri were anything but subtle, so he had sent his more skilled mortals, both enslaved and the mercenary enemies of SHEILD Clint Barton had put him in contact with, in search of the staff. It burned him so to rely on such weak creatures. But until such a time as the scepter was returned to his control, he would simply have to rely on manipulation.

He laughed out loud as he continued through the maze like corridors of the base, passing the occasional Chitauri or mortal under his employ. Loki did enjoy his games, and the challenge of possessing Jane Foster, of earning her compliance with merely the use of his Silver Tongue was one that appealed to him.

He would begin by continuing what he was already doing – taking care of her. It was really a stroke of luck that she had been damaged by the car accident, it allowed him access to her and her person that would otherwise be difficult to obtain from her willingly. He would make her rely on him for everything. She would be utterly dependant on him; her food, her safety, her very health would all stem from his generosity. He would get her used to him taking care of her, and eventually gain, if not her trust, than her cooperation.

Loki smirked at the memory of her face when he said he couldn't heal her magically, only enhance and accelerate her own healing ability. He, of course, had been lying through his teeth. He could have healed all her injuries, made her body whole again, even better than new. But it was inefficient for his plans. It also would have drained much of his magical power, and he had other business to attend to today. Thus, it was most advantageous to feed her a story that would ensure her dependence on his good favor.

He growled out of frustration at the thought that he would have to keep up the charade of caring for several weeks. Maybe even months if she was not able to unravel Eric Selvig's data.

The God of Mischief snorted and pushed thoughts of Jane from his mind. He had arrived at his destination, the epicenter of this base, the Command Room. As expansive as the bridge of SHEILD's helicarrier, the underground chamber was filled with screens, computers, equipment, and soldiers – both human and Chitauri. He strode up to the round table in the center of the room, a holographic map of the globe in red light hung above the touch-screen table top, indicating last known locations of threats to Loki's plans.

"Report" was the only thing he spoke to the five Chitauri generals and three mortals standing there talking quietly among themselves. Or screeching among themselves, in the case of the Chitauri.

The Chitauri generals spoke first, providing reports on equipment brought through the portals, equipment remaining in stand by, and equipment salvaged from the various skirmishes with Loki's enemies. They also provided information on provisions and the growing number of troops available for Loki's assaults. The Chitauri were bred and created to be the most efficient killing machines possible, they needed very little in the way of provisions. He suspected that if he took his entire current army and attacked SHEILD's current headquarters, there was a very strong chance that they would succeed in destroying the organization. A strong chance, however, was not enough for Loki. He wanted to crush them so completely that no other would stand up to his might again in fear of retaliation.

For this, he needed the rest of his army.

He listened to the creatures report on the latest of their attacks, they were succeeding in causing havoc, chaos, and rampant paranoia in countries, governments, and organizations all over Midgard. The Avengers appeared to be in a stalemate with Loki, letting him get no closer to his goal, but they were no closer to catching him than the Hulk was going to dress in a pink tutu and dance around for his entertainment. As the mortals brought forth their own information, his arrogant smile grew. The reports confirmed his supposition; the Avengers were no more likely to see through his political and tactical illusions than they were to see through his magical ones. Will they ever not fall for that?

The paranoia and chaos he was spreading was working it's way into the hearts and minds of men. Their fear and greed was provoking them to do just what Loki had intended. They were coming to him. The reports were coming in of several countries clandestinely attempting to contact him, willing to negotiate surrender in return for their own amnesty, loyalty, or servitude. Enemies of SHEILD were crawling out of the woodwork, wanting nothing more than to assist in taking down the hated organization. Some desired more material personal gain for their betrayal of their own world. Loki considered whether he would be a kind or a vengeful God to such turncoats.

He turned such pleasant thoughts of domination aside as he focused his attention to the final mortal, relaying the information passed on by his mole inside SHEILD. Aside from confirmation that SHEILD had no idea where to look for him, they were in an uproar over his capture of Jane. While Fury probably professed to Thor that he cared for Jane and was doing everything he could to get her back, Loki suspected that the Director was more disappointed that he had lost his last best hope of locating Loki or Loki's otherworldly portals. Thor, it seemed, has pitched a royal fit, reminiscent of his tantrums of old. It had stormed so violently and so long that SHEILD had to land their helicarrier until Thor spent his anger and calmed, lest they be knocked from the sky via lightning and tornados.

Thor's rage and impotence to do anything pleased Loki to no end. Yes, let his former brother suffer. Let him feel what it's like to live in the shadows for a turn. His face twisted into a wicked snarl, and the man relaying the report faltered.

"My Lord….?" He questioned uncertainly.

Loki's expression dropped, his face a blank mask once again. "What?"

"There is one last thing from your informant. They state that they will shortly be able to obtain the tracking algorithm program that Tony Stark and Doctor Banner created to trace the Tesseract's gamma radiation output. You will then be able to locate where they're holding the Tesseract, which they regret to relay that they have as yet been able to discern."

Loki's face stretched into a smug grin while the man continued. "They also wish to inform you that they believe the algorithm capable of being reprogrammed to search for your scepter, which emitted similar gamma radiation to the Tesseract. SHEILD believes the staff to be destroyed at this time, so has relegated it's importance to the back burner. Because of Banner and Stark's preoccupation with your forces, it has not yet occurred to them to reprogram the algorithm in such a manner. Additionally, the informant believes that even if the thought did cross their mind, SHEILD does not have the data that you do on the scepter and it's gamma signature, and would be unable to trace it without that data. "

Elated with the news, Loki dismissed his captains and stalked from the Control Room, long leather coat swishing behind him. His thoughts turned again to Jane, and how he might not have to keep up his pretense for as long as he thought, but he would certainly not stop on account of mere possibilities. He would not make the mistake of assuming promises made to him would be fulfilled again.

Loki had one more task to attend to tonight before he could allow himself the luxury of sleep to recuperate his soon to be exhausted reserves of magic.

His thoughts drifted until he arrived at a different section of the base, near to where the Chitauri were quartered. The construction was older here, some of the stark cement walls of the newer sections giving way to carved and dynamited out stone passageways. He came to what appeared to be a large blank wall, a dead end in the rock. Concentrating and gathering his energy, Loki pushed at the boundaries of space-time between worlds. The more he did it at this location, the easier it became to use the path, but it still was incredibly draining.

When he arrived on the rocky face of a barren abandoned moon, breathing heavily in exertion, there were six armed Chitauri waiting for him. Faintly, he could see the countless masses of his army, warships and speeders and the bizarre war whales, hanging in the distant atmosphere. He grit his teeth in fury and frustration, nodded to the Chitauri, and led them back through the small pathway, one of his magical backdoors through the fabric of reality. Upon arrival back in the base, he pointed them in the direction of their fellows and commanded them to report to their squad leaders, then stalked off down the hallways, hiding his exhaustion and weakness behind a false veneer of fury.

No one dared speak to Loki when he wore that expression. It was quite convenient.

Before long he found himself in front of the entrance to Jane's quarters, staring at the closed door. He ignored the two vigilant Chitauri guards, suddenly at a loss for why he was standing there. He frowned, turned, and swept across the hallway to his own quarters, directly across from where he had placed Jane.

He disappeared his armor and headed straight for the bed, magically warding the room against all entry. An act so practiced that it barely took any energy at all, and a thousand times more trusted than pathetic mortal midgardian locks or any Chitauri guards. Collapsing to the bed and shucking his heavy leather boots, he began to plan out his continued manipulation of Jane and ways to make his not-brother suffer when the most brilliant idea occurred to him. It tickled him so and he grinned, eventually breaking out into fits of laughter. Loki drifted off to the light sleep of a soldier in enemy territory, his last thoughts were of revenge tasting like raspberries and lavender.


	5. Chapter 5 - Pajama Pants

Author's Note: Ok. A few things. 1) I'm sick, so wrote this while high on cold meds. If it's loopy, please let me know and I'll take it down, rewrite it after I am no longer sick, and post it again. 2) I forgot what the other thing was, so on with the chapter!

Sleep left Jane slowly, drifting back layer by layer. The ceiling came into focus, along with awareness of her surroundings. The bed, the sheets, the walls, everything came into focus and the reality of her situation came rushing back in. She sighed. Three things came to her mind as she took stock of what was going on. One, she was clothed. Soft green flannel pajamas enveloped her. The right sleeve was removed, and her arm was wrapped in sterile gauze and tucked into a sling. Her left ankle was also wrapped and in a splint, the leg of the flannel split up the side to allow room.

She wasn't sure whether she wanted to throttle Loki for touching her while she was unconscious or be thankful for clothing and medical attention. With a huff, Jane decided she could be both.

The second thing that came to her attention was that she was absolutely starving. The hunger pangs were powerful to the point of distraction.

Lastly, the third thing she noticed was that she really, really had to use the bathroom.

She slowly sat up in bed, testing out her sore muscles. She ached, but her chest no longer hurt, and she could breathe clearly. The arm in the sling was immobile, and she could still not feel it. She wondered if she should be glad of that. Sliding her legs over the edge of the bed, her feet touched the cool carpet of the floor. Wisely, she decided to put no weight on her broken ankle. She could tell there were bruises up and down her good leg.

Okay Jane. Lets think about priorities right now. First step, make it to the bathroom. Worry about food later. It's not that far. You can do it.

Determined, Jane used the side table to lever herself up, balancing on her one good foot. With her left arm leaning against the wall, she hopped in a rather ungainly fashion towards the bathroom, stopping every so often to catch her breath. Every hop jarred her ankle and sent a twinge through her leg, she knew it couldn't be good for it. Still, she'd be damned to hell and die before she asked Loki for help to get to the bathroom.

After fifteen minutes, much stumbling, several colorful curses, and many pauses to catch her breath, she reached the bathroom door. Her legs were shaking badly.

The bathroom was utterly gorgeous. A walk-in shower. Whirlpool bath. Dual sinks. Wow. Maybe being a prisoner wasn't so bad. Stop it Jane. After an extremely awkward adventure in taking care of business, she washed her hands and fully looked at herself in the mirror. Jane leaned heavily against the counter, needing the support of the marble structure.

She looked terrible. Her hair was a greasy rats nest, there was discoloration on her face that she couldn't tell if it was dirt or bruises. Examining her other exposed skin, she pulled up her shirt. There was dirt there, too. At least Loki hadn't washed her while she was unconscious, the thought of his hands all over her made her skin crawl. Turning the water in the sink back on, she proceeded to clean herself the best she could with one arm and a washcloth.

Jane gripped the edge of the counter tightly, feeling light headed. Damn, she was shaking so badly she was nearly vibrating. She had really underestimated how beat up she was, and how much it had taken out of her.

She leaned against the bathroom door jamb, eyeing the bed like an old foe. Determined, she took a hop along the wall, caught her foot on the carpet edge, and felt herself falling. She flailed with her left arm, trying to right herself, but it was no use. Jane landed hard on her burned arm and shoulder, smacking her cheek hard into the floor with no arm to catch herself.

She lay, stunned and still, prone on the floor, pain seeping through her face and confusion fogging her brain.

She didn't know how long she lay there, time really had no meaning as she stared unfocused at the carpet. It could have been two minutes or twenty minutes or two hours. Distantly, she heard doors open and shut, then the familiar thud of footsteps, followed by another sounding of a door opening and closing. The footsteps were muted on the carpet, and shortly she saw in front of her face polished boots.

"What in all of the Nine Realms did you do to yourself this time? Honestly woman." Loki's lilt flowed down over her ears, sounding irritated and amused at the same time.

Jane felt strong arms beneath her knees and shoulders lifting her into the air and cradling her close to a solid chest, her head tucking against Loki's shoulder. A cool tingle went down her spine, she felt safe. Protected. The incongruity of the feeling didn't register to her. It seemed as though they held still for a long moment, the sound of Loki's heart beating slow and strong beneath her ear. The feeling of movement broke her focus and she was carried a short distance and lowered to the soft surface of the bed. Dazedly, eyes unfocused, she stared at the pale and black blur above her. She felt a cool touch on the pain of her cheekbone, then warmth and a tingling sensation spread out through her face. Everything came back into focus.

"Must I repeat myself?" Loki asked, staring down at her sardonically.

Jane thought back over what he had said previously. "I fell."

Loki rolled his eyes. "That much is obvious. What were you doing out of bed? You are supposed to be recovering."

Sighing, she fidgeted with the hem of her pajama shirt uncomfortably. "I had to use the restroom alright?"

He frowned. "You should have waited for some help."

Jane narrowed her eyes and fixed him with a look. "I would rather shoot myself than wait for your help with that."

"That could be arranged." He growled darkly, clenching his hands into fists as he stood looking down at her. Suddenly, his posture relaxed, shoulders dropping, and he sighed. "You must stop injuring yourself. It's getting old, and is taxing on your frail mortal body. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it, Jane Foster." He leaned in, examining her face, and paused. "At least one good thing came of your little adventure. You smell much better."

"Ha ha." Jane stated grumpily. It was at that moment that her stomach chose to growl. Loudly.

Loki leaned back and raised an imperious eyebrow. "Someone sounds hungry."

She eyed him for a long moment before nodding once. "I'm actually quite hungry." She admitted with some trepidation. Loki was a trickster. She had no idea if he'd require something in exchange for nourishment.

"I brought you food."

Jane turned her head at his words and saw a tray set on the side table. Her stomach immediately rumbled again and hunger pangs shot through her stomach.

"Lets sit you up and get some food into you. Healing in this fashion takes a great deal of energy and you'll need to refuel yourself frequently." Loki reached down to grasp Jane's shoulders and pull her up but she flinched away from him.

"I can do it myself."

"I seriously doubt that. We've both seen what the results are when you do things yourself."

She just glared at him.

Loki smirked. "Fine. Do it yourself." He stood up and stepped back lightly, crossing his arms over his chest and watching. Jane wanted to wipe that smug little smile from his face, preferably with a large, heavy object.

Somewhat surprised with his agreement to her wishes, she struggled to stack the pillows up and out of the way. It was a pain in the ass, but she wasn't going to give in. Finally, she dragged herself up the bed one-handed and propped herself up against the headboard, sitting up with a sigh of relief. Her good arm was stressed with the twisting and lifting and she was breathing a little heavily. Christ Jane, you really gotta start working out.

Loki said nothing, but his smirk grew.

Jane pulled the shaking tray onto her lap, managing not to spill anything. She examined it's contents critically. The food smelled heavenly, green beans, rice, steak, and apple pie. Cutting the steak was right out, so she tried instead to spear some green beans, but they wouldn't stay on the fork. Trying to eat one handed with your off hand was a royal pain and incredibly frustrating. She didn't even bother to attempt the rice. What the hell. With a slight shrug and a huff of breath, she started on the apple pie. At least those chunks would stay on the damned fork.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Really? The pastry first?"

"Life's short. Eat desert first." Jane shot back.

"Is that a Midgardian saying? How droll." Loki smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

She finished the pie, and after a few failed attempts to eat without making a fool out of herself, Jane finally sighed and dropped her head back against the headboard, eyes to the ceiling. She rolled her head to look bitterly at Loki. "Well?"

He smirked. "Ask nicely."

"I hate you."

"I know." He waited, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Jane finally sighed and her shoulders drooped. Grumbling some unintelligible curses under her breath, she gave in. "Fine. Please Loki, will you help me eat."

He leaned back, arms still crossed. "I'm not sure, you've been awfully difficult and quite rude to me."

She glared at him. "I will not beg. I would rather starve."

He gave her a long appraising look. "I believe you." And with that, he reached down and picked up the knife, taking the fork from her unresisting hand. She expected him to take the food and walk off, but his actions surprised her. He sat facing her on the bed at her side, and proceeded to cut up the steak. Jane couldn't help but feel like a child as he fed her, piece by piece, a pleased smirk gracing his features. Thankfully, he remained quiet during the meal. Astonishingly to Jane, whose meals typically ranged in size from a package of pop tarts to a can of microwavable soup, she ate everything. She had been very, very hungry.

Loki handed Jane a glass of water, which she sipped at gratefully. She nodded her thanks, but couldn't bring herself to say the words.

He raised an eyebrow and leaned in, smiling lightly. "Finished?"

She nodded, taking another sip from the glass.

"Good. Ready to play Doctor, Jane?"

She choked on the water, flushing. She glared at him, eyes wide, coughing. "What?!"

Loki tilted his head curiously, brows furrowed slightly. "Are you prepared now for your next bout of healing?"

Blinking, Jane paused. "Oh. Yes… I don't know about Asgard, but the first thing you said has very different connotations on Earth."

"What sort of connotations?"

Flushing deeper, she looked away, taking another drink to attempt to restrain her embarrassment. She really had no interest in explaining Midgardian sexual innuendo to a maniacal super villain.

He smirked. "I see." He let his face fall into a mask of indifference and casually gestured to her legs. "Today we work on your ankle. You need to be able to walk. I cannot be at your beck and call, I have things to do. Besides, if we do not take care of your ankle, you'll probably do something stupid again."

Jane frowned, offended. "I never expected you to be at my beck and call! And it wasn't stupid. It was necessary." She sniffed in indignation. "Besides. I would have thought you would have servants for such things."

Loki began to reply with what Jane was sure would be a biting or snarky comment, but she was fed up with his shenanigans and interrupted his beginning commentary with a loud "What do you want with me, Loki?"

He paused, obviously not used to interruptions from insignificant mortals. "I want you to heal."

Jane snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "You know what I mean, why did you bring me here? What do you want?"

"That, my dear Jane, is a conversation for another time." he said with finality. "Now, shall we check your ankle?" He pulled the sheets off her in one quick woosh. She shivered and her hands balled into fists, growling at his casual dismissal of her question.

Loki shifted further down the bed and pulled Jane's legs onto his lap. Again, Jane was suddenly terribly uncomfortable. He had her in a somewhat intimate position with a solid but gentle grip on her legs and she had little ability or recourse to resist him.

Examining the wrapped ankle, Loki pulled the split pajama leg up out of the way and began unwrapping the splint. The pajama leg flopped back down. Annoyed, Loki rolled it up to keep it in place and tried to continue unwrapping the splint. The thin sleek fabric unrolled, flopping back down again. Letting out an exasperated huff, Loki made a little flicking motion with his hand, and a chill struck Jane's legs as she realized her pajama pants had disappeared.

Shocked and upset that she was now in her pajama top and underwear as Loki blithely continued to unwrap her ankle, Jane let out a high pitched "HEY!" and attempted to jerk her legs out of Loki's lap, practically flailing. She failed. Miserably. Loki held her legs down with ease, left arm set across just above her knees, and the other across her ankles.

He rolled his eyes and shot an annoyed glare at her. "Quit squirming so, Jane. You're making it very difficult for me to work."

"What did you do with my pants?! " Shock was giving way to anger in Jane's mind.

Loki sniffed, seemingly ignoring Jane's antics and continuing to unwrap her ankle. "They were in the way. Now hold still if you actually desire to walk again."

The threat was clear, even if it was said in a pleasant tone. Jane froze, trembling, though she couldn't tell if it was from rage, fear, or the electric shocks Loki's touch was sending down her legs. Either way, she didn't like feeling so exposed to the trickster. It was incredibly disconcerting.

By this point, Loki had unwrapped the splint all the way and was examining the injury. He ran his hands softly over the swollen bruised flesh of Jane's ankle. She could feel no pain due to his spells, but she could still feel his touch. The familiar warmth and light electrical tingling of the healing magic flowing through her descended on her being. A loud crack and tugging sensation and she was pretty sure her ankle was now straightened out. The tugging and odd noises continued along with the almost burning sensation as the little bones and ligaments and muscles were put back in their rightful place and repaired.

Exhaustion rolled over her as her energy was used to fix her injuries. Loki could feel her tension sag and felt her body relax slightly. He absently began stroking her leg, marveling at it's softness compared to the typical hard muscle of Asgardian women.

Jane, tired and figuring Loki was finished healing her, sighed out his name, but couldn't figure out a good way to ask him to leave her be without starting a fight she had no energy for.

"Loki…"

Smirking, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he traced patterns with the tips of his fingers along her legs. "I do so love it when you moan my name like that."

Her entire body tensed and stiffened. "Please stop touching me. Let go of my legs."

Loki tightened his hold and stroked her leg again. "And if I don't?"

Jane's fury bubbled up inside and out her mouth, practically shouting at him. "I'm not your possession! Not some toy for you to play with! " She kicked and tried to jerk her legs out of his grip.

Grabbing her above the knee, Loki yanked her onto his lap and wrapped his arm around her waist in a vice like hold. She pressed her good hand flat against his chest, pushing away from the mad god in anger and frustration.

He pulled her close and hissed low in her ear. "But that's exactly what you are, Jane Foster. You're mine now. To do with as I wish, when I wish, how I wish. And no one is here to save you, no Thor to rescue you, no one to stop me. You'll be mine until the day you die!" His tone gentled, even if his hold did not. "But fear not, my dear Jane, for I can be a benevolent god to those who please me."

Finally, he released her and she scrambled off his lap and away, standing furious in the center of the open space between the bed and the bathroom. Exhaustion was wearing at her, but anger was fueling her right now. "I will never be yours. I am my own person. I refuse to be property!"

Loki stood, expressionless, and said simply "In time, you'll see things my way. But for now, get some rest. I'll return later." He gestured towards the bed and exited.

Jane stood frozen in the middle of the room, thinking. Letting out a deep breath, she walked over and sat on the bed. What the hell Jane. You can't stay here. Getting up, she tried the third door, which Loki had walked out of. Locked. In absence of a better option, and currently lacking pants, she curled up on her side on the massive bed. Sleep now, Jane. Find pants tomorrow. Then explore and get the hell out of this room. With a basic plan in mind, she closed her eyes and let exhaustion take her.


	6. Chapter 6 - Shampoo

Authors' Note: Aloha my friends! Thanks to the reviews, y'all have been very kind. And darn near 75 followers?! WOAH! Not expected. This is a slightly longer chapter than usual, as I couldn't figure out a good place to stop it or split it into two parts. So here you go! And for those of you clamoring for it, the first bit of smut should be up within the next 4 chapters, so hold your metaphorical horses. I would apologize for the extended wait for it, but I'm not sorry. I'm having too much fun with the Hurt/Comfort half of the story before we get to the Romance.

Loki was angry.

In an unusual turn of events, however, he was angry at himself.

Uttering Asgardian curses as he stalked from one end of the sumptuous room to the other, he ignored his books, his planning, and the reports he should be reviewing. He wandered almost aimlessly, looking all about at the décor of green and gold, but seeing and focusing on nothing but his own whirling thoughts.

It was insufferable.

He was letting that infernal mortal get under his skin for some unknown gods forsaken reason. He had never met anyone with such stubborn defiance of his will. Or who could rebuff him in such a way. As a result, he had nearly lost his temper. Sometimes, it almost felt as if his rage had a mind of it's own. Ever since… No. Focus on the problem at hand. Jane.

Loki clasped his hands together, tapping his forefingers to his lips and letting his eyes drift closed, thinking.

His mistake may have cost him a great deal of work in dealing with his Jane. Wait. His Jane? Well of course. She was his now. Yes. It was perfectly acceptable- No, natural. It was only natural to consider her as His Jane. His. Only his.

The thought helped him relax ever so slightly, his shoulders dropped, tension lessening, an almost soothing satisfaction drifting through the roiling fire of his emotions in his belly. The pure possessiveness of Loki's thoughts did not register as any way unusual to him. He was a Prince among Gods, after all; egotism was something he did tremendously well. And with style, of course.

He flexed his arms, rolling his shoulders, and repeated concentration mantras. Breathe. Focus. Control the anger, it gives me fuel, but can trigger emotional mistakes based on foolish sentiment. Breathe. Focus. Focus the anger, it can bring clarity in glorious chaos. He focused his attentions back to thoughts of his captive.

She got on his nerves. Annoyed him, as much as he suspected he annoyed her. Good. Loki sighed as he paced back and forth across the expanse of his own chambers, leather and cloth swishing about his legs, surrounded by the comforting feel of his magical locks and wards. He was supposed to be getting her used to him, used to trusting him, used to having him around, used to his touch…

But his own nature as the Trickster God was undermining him. He was just having too damn much fun baiting her, poking and prodding – sometimes literally- to keep her off balance.

He needed to reformulate his plan. Her trust was going to be a hard won prize at this point. Maybe the best he could hope for at this point was cooperation. Loki paused in his pacing and pondered his options.

Charm her? Be a perfect gentleman from this point onwards, he knew he could play up the façade. His lifetime as a prince and participant in politics gave him an untold advantage in manipulation over a mere mortal astrophysicist. But no, she too easily enraged him, enticed him, annoyed him. Besides, that would hardly be any fun.

Maybe he should continue to be a bit of an imp? Continue to keep her off kilter, unbalanced and unable to feel stable ground beneath her proverbial feet? It was indeed enticing, but what would it accomplish? Nothing truly besides a release, an outlet for his mildly malicious sense of humor.

He growled under his breath and threw himself onto his back on his wide soft bed, staring unseeing up at the ceiling of his chambers. Loki furrowed his forehead, deep in thought.

He still had to heal her arm. Probably in two sessions, as she still wasn't strong enough to have the energy for all in one sitting. That would be the first step. Actually, now that he thought about it, he needed to feed her again. She'd been with him nearly two weeks already, and she'd spent most of it sleeping. She needed more fuel for her frail mortal body to continue recovering.

Having concerns for the well-being of someone other than himself was an unusual sensation for Loki, but it pleased him to a degree, having a human pet, a possession of sorts. One that could eventually help him take over this wretched world and be finished with his thrice-damned task. He clenched his fists. Always playing the long game. It would be so much easier if things would just fall into place or happen quickly and efficiently.

Then again, that wouldn't be much fun…

Speaking of fun, his thoughts ran to what to get Jane for dinner. He wanted something impossible to eat one handed again, he'd take his small spiteful pleasures where he could. That strange pasta dish he had seen some of his workers eating, that would do. They had called it lasagna. Salad, of course. Both next to impossible to eat one handed with your off hand. Her pride would sting, but he was positive she would rather let him feed her than make a fool of herself making a mess.

Oh yes. And more apple pie.

Suddenly, he was stuck with inspiration. She was a scientist. A curious soul. Was her curiosity more of a driving force than her disconnected concern for her world? For her bitterness towards Thor? This course of action was intriguing to him.

Bribery. Let's give it a try, shall we?

* * *

Jane awakened sharply, the last remnants of a dream fading quickly from her groggy memory. It was a beautiful dream, full of laughter and joy, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was about. Even now, the feeling of hope and humor was fading as she took in the somewhat familiar surroundings of her captivity.

Stuck in a beautiful cage.

She sighed, staring at the ceiling, flat on her back on the king sized bed, unknowingly copying her captor's pose at that moment in time. She was again starving, stomach tying itself in knots. There was a strange sensation along her spine and hips, settling into a twisting sensation in her belly. It wasn't quite hunger, she'd never felt anything quite like it before. It didn't hurt, but the sensation of hunger ripping through her stomach quickly drove any thought of other odd sensations from her mind. It was probably just a by-product of healing, like the need for food, like, now.

How long had she been asleep, anyway? And how long had she been stuck here? Her natural curiosity was kicking in. Heck, how did Loki seem to know whenever she woke up? That thought brought on a shiver. Did he have a camera in here? Could he spy on her magically? Did he have some sort of alarm? Was he watching her even now? Ugh. Thoughts like that were going to drive her mad.

Jane heaved a sigh and sat up, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She still had no pants. That really needed to be remedied. But first, restroom. No longer having to hop and worry about giving herself another concussion was something of a relief. She wandered into the spacious room and stared longingly yet again at the massive shower. Eyeing her gauzed arm tucked safely in it's sling, she blew out an annoyed breath. She closed and locked the door. Even though Loki could simply unlock it, pick it, or break it down, the reassuring click of the lock helped Jane feel some small comfort.

After using the restroom and washing her hands somewhat awkwardly, she again attempted to wash herself as best she could with one functional arm. Contemplating her state of cleanliness, she began to really explore the cupboards and cabinets. Jane was somewhat overjoyed when she found a variety of feminine toiletries, including toothbrush and toothpaste, a hair brush, and deodorant. Thank the stars.

First brushing her teeth and applying deodorant, it took her a moment to notice it was the brands she typically used at home. That was somewhat disconcerting. Did Loki steal the contents of her bathroom? No, this was all new. Huh. Shaking off the momentary discomfort, she leaned on the sink counter and stared at the rat's nest of her hair. It was past approaching nasty, and she frowned. She brushed it out slowly, working out the snarls and knots. She even found a leaf from when she was on the forest floor. Ugh. She wanted a shower so badly it hurt. Or maybe that was just the grumbling of her stomach again…

She tapped her foot against the cold tile, and was reminded that her legs were still bare. It was time to find some real damned clothes.

Peeking out the bathroom door, she didn't see Loki anywhere. Since the coast was clear, she padded over to the walk in closet to explore. There were pants! And other assorted clothes, of course. Dresses, slacks, blouses galore. Her usual clothing choices, however, were nowhere to be found. No chunky sweaters, sweatpants, or beat up jeans. Everything looked rather expensive, far more costly than she ever bothered with anyway. Jane was a Goodwill shopper at heart. She would rather spend every spare cent on her research. At long last, however, she pulled two pairs of designer jeans from the expanse of fabrics.

Eventually, she found a beautiful short sleeved blue silk blouse of a loose enough design so that she could maneuver her unusable gauzed arm out of the sling and through the armhole without too much trouble. It struck her again how glad she was that she could not feel her arm. Getting it back in the sling was a slightly bigger pain in the ass, but she managed.

Wait. Something niggled at the corner of her mind, bothering her. It came to her suddenly: everything was in her size, and fit perfectly.

She shivered. How long had Loki been planning on taking her? It was really rather creepy that everything fit her perfectly. Really creepy. Also, somewhat flattering in a perverse way. Guh. Loki was a weirdo. A psychotic, mass murdering weirdo who seemed to have a thing for her. Or at least a thing for irritating the piss out of her. Jane couldn't bring herself to give even the tiniest bit of credence to the notion that Loki might have legitimate affection for her; the reports she'd gotten out of SHEILD all indicated his sociopathic hatred of sentiment. Heck, she still didn't know what the hell he even really wanted out of her! Other than this perverse notion of a toy, and that sure as hell didn't sit well with Jane.

Distantly, she heard the opening and closing of a door and approaching footsteps, breaking her from her gloomy thoughts. She emerged from the closet and seated herself on the bed, facing the door with something of a mistrustful expression across her features.

* * *

The door opened and Loki sauntered in, arms clasped behind his leather clad back. Following shortly behind him, floating along held aloft by naught but air, was a tray. He had the domestic servants under his control fix dinner again, and he allowed himself a cheeky smirk at his small amusements. Looking Jane up and down, he noted her tidied up appearance and clothing selection. Raising an eyebrow at her expression, he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Good, you're up. I see you've discovered your wardrobe."

Jane merely bobbed her head in a quick nod, saying nothing, eyes slightly narrowed.

Loki chuffed out a breath and made a simple flicking gesture with his fingers. The food tray floated smoothly over to the bedside table and settled itself with a slight tink. Jane's eyes widened, and a flash of curiosity etched across her features. She watched, fascinated. Reaching out with her uninjured hand, she touched the tray almost reverently.

"How'd you do that?"

"Magic."

Jane grumbled. "Thor once told me you come from a world where magic and science are one and the same, so wouldn't it be just as accurate to call it science?"

"Ah yes, because Thor is such an expert on magic." He snorted derisively. "Magic is both Art and Science, of which Thor understands neither. Come now, your food's getting cold." He pulled up the chair next to the bed and seated himself. Yes. Keep her interest. Let her pull it out of you slowly. Feign reluctance, there's no surer hook for the curious mind. Hel, she must be starving, but all she seems to want to do is ask questions.

"If magic is both Art and Science, as you say, then would you explain in scientific terms how you made the tray float?"

"Say please."

Jane sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Please."

"Please what?"

"This gets very irritating, you know."

"Do you want me to answer or not?"

"Ugh. Loki, will you please tell me in scientific terms how you made the tray float?"

"No."

"What?! Hey, I said please and everything!"

Loki was trying not to laugh at Jane's tone, a cross between incredulity and desperation. My, my, she was indeed a curious soul. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.

"I will tell you after, if you behave well."

The mistrustful expression returned to Jane's face. "After what?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "After food and healing, Miss Foster. Your hesitancy is misplaced. Do recall that all the injuries you've sustained during your little adventures here have all been of your own doing."

"Don't start that argument again. You know I think that's a load of bull."

Loki continued, acting as if Jane hadn't even spoken. "Now, they tell me this pasta dish is called lasagna. You have salad, apple pie, and apple sauce."

"The chefs really like apples, huh?"

He fixed her with an annoyed stare. "The fruit supply is limited when you have an army to feed. Consider yourself lucky to have any at all, dearest Jane."

Her expression sobered immediately, probably at the pointed reminder of her situation and Loki's Chitauri. She hadn't seen any the entire time she'd been with him, and had probably almost forgotten about them. He snorted inwardly. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. But if you make any airplane noises, I'm kicking you out of this room."

Jane seemed determined to provoke him today, but his rage was controlled, leashed to his new plan, and he let the comment slide. He knew she could never manage to kick him out in her state. Wait. What was the first part of her statement?

"Airplane noises?"

Jane grinned. "Nevermind."

Loki shook his head. "Humans…"

He proceeded to feed her slowly and precisely, remaining calm and somewhat friendly, dodging her questions about magic, insisting she finish food and heal first before stressing her delicate mortal brain. She glared at him with that, but he only smiled innocently and offered her more applesauce. All in all, the dinner went surprisingly well. No screaming matches, no awkwardness. Now to fix the arm.

He piled the dishes on the platter and snapped his fingers, vanishing the dishes and tray. Jane's mouth dropped open ever so slightly, and her eyes went wide, obviously delighted. Inwardly, Loki preened. It wasn't often his magic earned him anything but scorn, and the fact that she appreciated it, even wanted to know more about it, tickled him. Even if she did insist upon attempting to apply her mortal science to it.

"Let's look at your arm, shall we?" He reached forward and disengaged the sling, brushing her long brown tresses out of the way of the band. If his fingers lingered a little too long on her neck, she didn't seem to notice. Her arm fell loosely to her side, uncontrolled.

He gently grasped the gauzed appendage and began unwrapping it.

He heard Jane's gasp, glanced up, and saw her face drain of blood. She had just looked at the severity of her arms injuries. Good. She looked shocked. Horrified even, maybe a little green now. Loki could tell by her expression that she knew she would never have use of her arm again if it was healed via normal human means and her natural mortal abilities.

In a voice so low he probably wouldn't have heard it if not for his godhood, still staring at her arm with an openly horrified expression, she whispered. "So that's what smelled like pork chops…".

Loki ignored the comment and focused on the blackened limb in front of him. It was indeed so badly damaged that he would indeed have to heal it in two parts. He'd have to cheat too, and use some of his more powerful magic, as if he left it only to accelerated healing magic, her whole arm would be massively scarred and she may not gain back full functionality. Such trauma would probably not be conducive to having her work with him. Plus, the thought of leaving scars on her just bothered him on some deep level. He dismissed the concern as solely to keep her happy and willing to work, and focused on the task at hand.

He slid his cool hand to her shoulder, over the bruised and blackened flesh. She had turned her head away and closed her eyes, still looking a little pale. Left hand on her upper arm, right hand on the top of her shoulder, he quickly jerked the arm up and back into it's socket. Jane would only feel a powerful tug. They both heard the low snap-pop of the joint returning to it's original position.

Jane's breath hitched as he ran his hands down her upper arm slowly, healing the burns, scars, and damaged muscle as he went.

"It.. it burns. Feels like my arm fell asleep… pins and needles… " She blinked, gritting her teeth.

"Well, it's the worst injury. I have a pain blocking spell up. Imagine how it would feel without it. I'll have to heal it in two halves. We'll stop at the elbow, and do the hand and forearm when you wake up next."

"Alright." She rolled her shoulders experimentally and tilted her head curiously. "Huh. I'm tired, but not nearly as bad as it's been before. I must be getting stronger." There was a slight smile in her tone. "Wait. What do you mean 'when I wake up next'? How long have I been here?"

"Approximately two weeks."

"WHAT?!"

"You've spent most of your time sleeping and recuperating."

"Ugh, no wonder I felt so disgusting."

Loki paused, wondering how she'd react to his next question. "Would you like me to wash your hair?" He was almost looking for any excuse to touch her. He told himself it was to get her further used to him, rationalizing that he wanted her to smell better. That was it.

She eyed him, frowning. He could tell her mistrust of him was warring with an almost irrational desire for cleanliness. "I would like that, but only if you _promise_ not to be a creeper. Otherwise, thanks, but I'll wait until I can use my arm to take a shower."

"Before I agree, you must define what a 'creeper' is." Loki began to wrap her forearm up in clean gauze he had pulled from nowhere and tuck it back in the sling.

Jane shifted a little uncomfortably. "Well, touching my legs like you did before. Kissing my throat. Things like that."

Loki tilted his head, keeping his face entirely blank as he stared at Jane. Hah. Silly mortal. "Very well, my little Jane. You have my word. I shall not behave like a 'creeper'".

Jane looked uncertain for a moment, than steeled her expression and nodded.

* * *

She watched Loki grin and stand. He looked way too pleased with himself. He grasped the low chair and walked over into the expansive bathroom, pulling the chair along with him. Lining up the back of the chair with the sink, he beckoned her over and turned on the water, testing the temperature with his hand.

Jane sighed and stood, hating herself for giving in and looking forward to the feeling of getting two weeks of grime out of her hair at the same time. She may have a cluttered and messy lifestyle, but personal hygiene was never something she had skimped on. Being in such a vulnerable position with a murdering sociopath wasn't exactly an idea she was keen on, but she was pretty damned sure if he wanted to kill her, he would have done so already. No, this was probably just him playing with his new 'toy'. And in this one instance, she was willing to let him.

Tentatively, she followed him into the bathroom and paused, not wanting to really turn her back on him.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Oh, do sit down Jane. Your reticence grows wearisome."

Biting back a sigh and rolling her own eyes, she proceeded to sit. She nearly jumped when she felt Loki's hand on her back, guiding her to lean back in the chair. Feeling the chair tilt backwards did make her jump, and she grabbed onto the armrests in slight panic, leaning forward.

"You're not going to fall, Jane."

"How is this being held up? It's tilted!"

Loki snorted. "Magic."

Jane stopped struggling, feeling somewhat relieved and somewhat not. "Oh."

"Now lean back and stop fidgeting."

For the first time in a long time, Jane did as she was bid without complaint or questions or objection. She just wanted to get this over with. Spending time with Loki felt like spending time with a broken land mine. You never knew when it was going to go off.

Again, Loki guided her back to rest her head over the edge of the headrest over the sink. At some point, he had apparently folded a hand towel across the lip of the sink so her neck wouldn't be digging into the cold marble. It seemed even Loki could be thoughtful at times.

He brushed all of her long dark hair back up off her neck and into the smooth bowl of the sink. She shivered as his cool hands brushed over the skin on the back of her neck, but he didn't linger. She twitched when the water first hit her scalp, but didn't jump, of which she was very pleased with herself. Small victories. She didn't even twitch when he brushed his hands over her ears to protect them from the spray. He thoroughly soaked her hair, spraying sides, back, hairline, and all without getting water in her eyes either.

Although now that she thought about it a little, she had no idea how he managed to alternate the angle of the water to wet the sides and back of her scalp. Maybe he had a spray attachment to the faucet she hadn't noticed before? Maybe he was using more magic? It really didn't matter all that much, she mused. But the niggling curiosity would drive her bonkers. Especially if it was magic. She would really love to see and know more about how he did those things.

She tilted her head back a bit and looked upwards, trying to see what he was using to direct the spray. He tsk'd and gently but firmly guided her head back, pulling her chin forward. "Hold still, Jane." It was a command, not a request. She frowned. Not cool. But not exactly 'creeper' behavior, so she sighed and let him.

Once her hair was completely soaked, the spray stopped, and she saw him pour shampoo into his hands and reach back down. It felt far too good as he massaged it into her head. She slowly began to relax, eyes drifting shut. If she kept her eyes closed, she could almost pretend she was in the salon that one time Darcy had dragged her to when she was stressed about a presentation. Darcy did have some great ideas, and the salon was one of them, but it wasn't something Jane had indulged in again. With her eyes closed, she could almost pretend Loki was someone she actually liked. Her imagination tried several different people in Loki's place; Donald, Thor, even her mother like when she was little, but her brain couldn't hold the illusion for long. It always came back to the fact that it was Loki. A little frustrating.

He was rinsing the soap out of her hair now, again wetting her hair from every angle. She grit her teeth, trying to hold still instead of squirming to see what was going on. It was hard. She kept her eyes closed, trying to find that relaxed feeling she'd had barely a minute ago.

Loki began to rub conditioner into her scalp, and the pleasant feeling began to creep back in. Having another person washing her hair felt rather nice. Damn, though, he's got good hands. Long nimble fingers and a strong but gentle grip. Woah. Yikes Jane. Pause for a minute. These are not things to be thinking about your captor, no matter how good his hands are. Good feeling gone. Was it just that she had made herself uncomfortable, or was he lingering with the conditioner? Great. I made things awkward all by myself this time.

She shifted uncomfortably under Loki's continual touch as he began to rinse out the conditioner. He twisted her hair, gently squeezing out the excess water. Idly, she wondered if they had shampoo on Asgard, or if they just magicked themselves clean. Though if they magicked themselves clean, logically that meant Loki could have just cleaned her hair magically without touching her. If she discovered that was true, she would be really, really annoyed. For now, it was just easier to believe they had shampoo and didn't use magic on something so trivial.

Loki hooked her tilted chair with his foot and twisted it around ninety degrees so her back was directly to him instead of him standing at her side. She didn't fall, Jane supposed magic was still holding the chair on it's back legs. She still tensed up a little bit.

He tilted her head up, wrapped it in a fluffy green towel, leaned it back, and began rubbing it dry. She breathed a sigh of relief. Almost done.

Per usual, Loki chose the moment of least resistance to strike.

Stepping to her side, Loki dropped the towel. Jane opened her eyes, tilting her head up slightly to look up at his looming form. Fisting his right hand in her half dried hair, Loki tugged her head back, holding her firmly in place. Like a snake striking, he pressed his lips to hers firmly, cupping her chin with his free hand.

Letting out a muffled cry of surprise, Jane struggled against his grip and raised her left hand in a fierce attempt to punch Loki in his smug face. Bastard!

Unfortunately, Loki's reflexes were much faster, and he dropped his left hand from her chin to grab her fist right before it connected with his jaw. He pulled back and looked at her fist curiously, smirking, and clasped it to his armored chest.

Jane sputtered "You promised you wouldn't do something like that, you jerk!" He hadn't let go of her hair yet, despite her tugging. Jane tucked her hair pulling kink deep in the dark recesses of her mind, ignoring the sensation.

Loki smirked and tilted his head, speaking out in a sing song voice "God of Lies."

" Gah!" She jerked her fist away from Loki's grasp and threw both arms in the arm in exasperation. Flopping them on the arm rests, she glared up at him.

"Why do I even- No. You know what? I'm done. I am SO done! I give up." She rolled her eyes and sighed, aggravated in the extreme.

Loki grinned, looking delighted. "I was hoping you'd say that." Swooping in, he kissed her again, taking advantage of her open mouthed squeak of surprise to slip in his tongue. He tasted like wintergreen. It just made Jane angrier. Releasing her hair, Loki rested his hands on her upper arms.

Fueled by her fury, she pushed back on his chest with her one good arm, knowing it was futile. Loki far overpowered her, and what the god wanted, the god got. To her intense surprise, he was shoved back a fair bit. Even he looked a little surprised before his face fell into a pleased and wicked grin.

Jane growled at him. "That is not what I meant and you know it! I give up on ever trusting your word! Damned liar! What is this game for you anyway? You get some kind of sick pleasure in this?!"

Loki, still standing back a bit, looked at her in an intensely appraising way that Jane just didn't like. "Sick, no. Pleasure, oh yes."

Jane stood, knocking the chair away in her haste, hands balled into fists. "You're infuriating!"

Loki grinned wickedly, crossing his arms. "Admit it Jane, you like it. "

"What?! What on Earth gives you that idea?!"

Loki stepped closer, back into her personal space, and grabbed her waist as she tried backing up and ran right into the marble sink top. He pulled her tight against his body, leaned in and whispered lowly into her ear, his cool breath making her shiver. "You desire the affections of a God."

Jane hissed, leaning as far away from Loki as she could, trapped as she was between him and the counter. "Maybe. But not you."

Loki dropped her like he'd been burned and stalked into the bedroom, obviously furious. He turned back as Jane made her way cautiously to the doorway of the bathroom, watching him pace. She could tell she'd struck a nerve as he began spouting what was probably the most hurtful things he could think of at the time.

"Thor then? Always my brother. Pathetic. He'll never come for you, Jane Foster. He has another who's held his hear far longer. You're just a dalliance to him, an amusement until he gets bored and moves on. I've seen it before. And I'll see it again after he finishes with the next whore who catches his fancy. Besides, he'll never find you anyway. You're mine now. Mine. And I keep what's mine.

Her eyes fogged up, but it was in rage more than it was tears of sadness. What he had said hurt, yes, but it was honestly nothing she hadn't said to herself before. To hear it spoken aloud by another with such venom really struck a nerve though. Balling her fists at her sides, Jane practically screamed at him.

"Thor?! You think this is about him? He used me. Lied and abandoned me! I know he'll never come for me. I'm probably stuck with you for a long time. I mean nothing to that oath breaker. This isn't about your brother, Loki. This is just about you being an asshole."

* * *

Loki just looked at her blankly, hiding his surprise. She honestly had no idea what she meant to Thor. Then again, she had no idea how Thor had verbally reamed SHEILD about their inability to protect Jane. No idea that his so-called brother had been searching for her night and day for weeks, going until he practically collapsed from exhaustion, his teammates dragging him back to base to sleep. And she was furious with Thor as well! How absolutely wonderful! This was like the mortal Christmas!

Without another word, Loki turned and walked out, lost deep in thought, leaving the bedroom door open.


End file.
